GREEN BAY - Wisconsin companies are making a push to spread the word: There are numerous information technology jobs available in the state.

Businesses say they need IT and technology professionals and those jobs exist in cities large and small and don’t require moving to San Francisco or Boston. It’s a field expected to continue growing.

“If you want a job right out of college making a good income, software engineering is the way to go,” said Brian Hicks, the learning and development manager at Skyward, a Stevens Point software developer. “It is absolutely booming.”

Microsoft is making an investment in eastern Wisconsin with the Green Bay Packers in TitletownTech, an innovation center expected to bolster tech sector jobs and startups.

Sheboygan is jumping into the pursuit of the tech economy with the development of an innovation district designed to bring businesses, students, educators and entrepreneurs together while the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and its partners are building a $15 million innovation center focused on introducing young people to STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and math).

Global electronics giant Foxconn has also focused attention on the state with construction of a production facility in Mount Pleasant and an innovation center in Green Bay.

Local IT jobs and educational opportunities were showcased earlier this month at a career and job fair at Lambeau Field hosted by the Northeast Wisconsin IT Alliance.

Projections show the need for more than 11,000 in jobs in computer and mathematical occupations in Wisconsin between 2014 and 2024, a roughly 16 percent increase. The median wage is around $70,000 a year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

IT careers run across a broad spectrum from developers who create software applications for websites, mobile devices, computers and heavy equipment to people versed in user support — the folks who fix business equipment and software.

'IT is cool'

Jim Dobinski, managing director of Neenah-based Stellar Blue Technologies, is bullish on the IT and technology sector in Wisconsin. Tech jobs and businesses are not something of the future; they’re in Wisconsin now and people need to know about them.

“We have drones in the air, we have virtual reality, we’re building robots. It’s so cool,” he said. “Most of this is fun, but you’re going to have to know the basics — some coding and the platforms you’re going to be working on — you’re going to want to have that passion to be a geek. If you have that, you’re going to find somewhere in the IT field to fit you.”

“You can feel it,” he said. “Wisconsin is right there, and this area is fighting for it ... but it feels like the outside world is starting to hear about us.”

Planting the seed

Wisconsin is where University of Wisconsin-Green Bay student Jason Ruckel wants to stay when he graduates with a degree in computer science with an emphasis on information assurance and security.

“People need to realize we have businesses here doing the same things they’re doing on the coasts — lots of innovation, a startup culture — but closer to home, and the cost of living is lower,” he said.

A search of job listings of IT and cybersecurity jobs in the state yields a persistent need for qualified workers with many of the jobs focused on financial institutions, like banks and credit unions.